Two Britons attempting to sail across the Channel via small boat have joined Martin Daubney on GB News to explain their motives.
The People’s Channel star asked Connor Astbury and Dan Heard if they think they are making a sensible choice given the trip’s perilous nature and the fact it is illegal.
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“We cannot encourage this illegal activity”, Martin stressed. “I wanted to ask you though, what is the driving message because a lot of our viewers are sat at home exasperated by these illegal crafts coming in.
“What you’re specifically going out there to show is that this is a farce?”
Connor Astbury and Dan Heard are raising money for veterans
|GB NEWS / PA
Astbury said: “The majority of the UK does not like illegal immigration. Our tax money is going towards people being put up in hotels and getting free stuff.
“They’re getting stuff off us. There are British people that are homeless, struggling and aren’t getting put into five star hotels.
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“We need to put our own country first. If we need to go on this crazy, wild adventure to show people that we need to be supporting the British people, hopefully it sparks something within the Government to encourage change.”
Martin asked: “Do you think this is sensible? Are you not concerned you’re encouraging people to do reckless behaviour?”
The pair joined Martin Daubney on GB News
|GB NEWS
Heard explained: “I’ve grown up around boats. My parents have had boats since I had my own rib. We have life jackets, we are doing it safely and during the day.
“We’re not doing it in rough conditions. I have been around boats for a long, long time. We won’t do it if it is choppy, only if it’s good.”
Astbury stressed other people should not follow suit and it is a challenge “we have set out to help the British people.”
Yvette Cooper has declined to comment on how many migrants were being detained under the UK’s new “one in, one out” deportation deal with France after crossing the English Channel.
Yvette Cooper is hopeful the new scheme will act as a deterrent
| POOLThe Home Office did release footage on the first day the pilot scheme came into force showing migrants being detained at Dover.
It showed some of those detained going through the first stages of the pilot process, including their initial processing, their biometric and security checks and their relocation to an immigration removal centre to await their return to France.
Speaking about the detentions on Thursday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "The transfers to immigration removal centres are under way as we speak, so we won't provide operational details at this point that criminal gangs can simply use and exploit.
"But no-one should be in any doubt: anyone who arrives from now on is eligible for immediate detention and return."